We need an expert in Mid East to help interpret "the letter"

[annabanana]

The language is probably heavily coded within a cultural context. In order to comprehend it we need more than a translation. We need to understand who is the audience for this letter. It is probably carefully calibrated to resonate within the Muslim world, where there is a tradition of hyperbole, the degree of which is understood by the listener.

How much of the religious language is part of the "tapestry" of political language, and how much is to be taken literally?

Do we have any Islamists here?

http://medias.lemonde.fr/mmpub/edt/doc/20060509/769629_lettre.pdf

[Behind the Aegis]

1. Pretty easy to understand.

The translation is easy to understand. Are you asking if the original, in Farsi, letter is different?

It seems as if this letter was written by an Iranian Fox commentator.

[stellanoir]

2. Well if the audience was really *

boy oh boy is he ever over estimating his intelligence.

It almost seems as though he is addressing all reasonable people in the world. Even the anti Israel segment is put forth largely in terms of third party questions rather than an anti semitic screed.

The way this man has been put forth by our media is as a religious looney tune. He's far brighter and reverentual than he has been portrayed.

I love the way he goes right after *'s faux Christianity in a really cogent way. The points of the roles of government and media to provide security and the truth are priceless as well.

No wonder the misadministraton is minimizing the significance of this letter. It's really powerful and nails them on their hypocrisy completely.

[Behind the Aegis]

3. What does this mean?

"Even the anti Israel segment is put forth largely in terms of third party questions rather than an anti semitic screed."

[stellanoir]

7. Well upon an early morning scan only, he seemed to put the issue

in terms of the questions he was hearing from the students and the Iranian people thereby elucidating the problems they perceived.

I know he's been quoted as saying other stuff that was dripping with vitriole towards Israel and the Jewish people so I thought it was an interesting way to present the matter. That is all.

BTW I have a tremendous amount of respect for Judaism.

Two decades ago I even studied esoteric Judaism for a year with a renegade Hippie Hasid mystic who absolutely blew my mind.

He insisted I had a Jewish soul. At the time I didn't think souls had a religious orientation at the time so I only copped to a Jewish sense of humor. :) My understanding has shifted a bit since then but that's a whole other matter.

[sweetheart]

6. Surely the audience was the world

The anglo media is slandering this man and his country, demonizing them
to prepare the way for a very evil mass murdering war, and he is
smart to take it straight to the people, pulling no punches, just in case
you don't know where he's coming from.

I feel much less concerned about iran after reading that, and now
am much more concerned with those who are preparing the way for
a genocide.

[MikeDuffy]

4. The Le Monde translation seems to have what looks like typos

and other errors. I Google found another which seems essentially the same, but without those obvious problems (it certainly reads better to me): http://www.iran.ru/eng/iran_news.php?act=news_by_id&_n=1&news_id=26782
I don't know who to credit for this English translation, however. In any case, perhaps this is a better starting point than the OP Le Monde translation?

This site may have the original text in Persian as well (I can't begin to read Persian to be able to tell).

[Caution]

5. The translation that is available is the one provided by Iran

It's pretty straight forward. And pretty anathema to me as an American and absolutely horrifying to me as an atheist.

[annabanana]

8. How cosmopolitan is Ahmadinejad? Is he a provincial, or

has he traveled and/or studied abroad? What would this letter look like to a provincial Iranian?